View from Bear Den Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway

View: ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ / 5
Trails: None
Picnic Tables: None

The Bear Den Overlook is one of the better overlooks on the Blue Ridge Parkway. You have a wide, expansive, more than 180° view of an assortment of mountains and valleys at varying distances from the viewing area, giving this vista a depth that many lack. Mountains are stacked up in rows, with the colors of the mountains closest to the overlook standing out, while those farther away gradually fade into a gray mass. I visited around noon when the sun was high in the sky, so that’s a great time to come (this is west facing, so don’t expect good photos in the late afternoon or evening unless you are coming to watch the sun set). Also, because the viewing area is far above the valley below, there is no chance of trees ever growing up tall enough to block the view. The elevation here is 3,360′.